Five other cases of deaths in care the public should know about

In early September 2013, the province released 2,556 pages of death records for all of the children who died while receiving in-care services between Jan. 1, 1999 and June 8, 2013. Many of them were heavily censored.

Photograph by: John Lucas
, Edmonton Journal

CASE 1

A 14-year-old girl from the Blood First Nation near Lethbridge disappeared on her way home from school in 2008. Blood Tribal Police found her intoxicated at 10:30 p.m. and took her to hospital in Cardston, where she was pronounced dead. The Ministry of Human Services has censored the death report and case file to remove most of the information, including the girl’s name* and the month and day she died, but the cause of death is listed as alcohol poisoning. The teen had been in care since she was four months old and had developmental delays and behavioural problems. No special case review** was undertaken; no recommendations were made to prevent similar deaths and no fatality inquiry was called.

CASE 2

A medically fragile, developmentally delayed four-year-old Calgary girl died of an intestinal obstruction in 2005. Officials had launched three investigations into the foster home prior to her death, recommending at various times the foster parents clean children’s rooms, which reportedly smelled of urine, remove locks from the bedroom doors, and place lamps in each room. A file review shows the child and youth advocate expressed concerns about “whether it was reasonable to leave foster children in the home.” Officials didn’t find sufficient evidence to warrant closing the home, but it was closed following the child’s death. The heavily censored files indicate “initial uncertainty about the cause of death.” There was no explanation as to what caused the intestinal blockage. No special case review was undertaken, no recommendations were made to prevent similar deaths, and no fatality inquiry was called.

CASE 3

A 14-year-old Bigstone Cree teen disappeared from his grandparent’s home in northern Alberta sometime in winter 2009. RCMP found his frozen body in the snow a week later, and determined he had been at a party the night before. Hypothermia was listed as the cause of death. According to the ministry file, the teen had behavioural problems and had run away before. There was a plan for him to attend counselling, but he never received treatment. No special case review was undertaken, no recommendations were made to prevent similar deaths, and no fatality inquiry was called.

CASE 4

A three-month-old Calgary boy died of what is described in his file as “self-asphyxiation” on May 3, 2011. He was found lifeless just before 7 a.m. by his foster mother. Internal ministry files do not indicate how the boy died. The medical examiner at the scene called the death “an unfortunate accident” and noted the absence of any toys, blankets or pillows in the other cribs in the home. There was no special case review ordered. A fatality inquiry has been called, but no date has yet been set.

CASE 5

A six-year-old aboriginal boy died of injuries Nov. 13, 2004, near Standoff, near the Blood First Nation southwest of Lethbridge, when he was ejected from a vehicle being driven by a former caregiver. The driver lost control of the vehicle, which struck a boulder. Neither the boy nor the driver were wearing seat belts. There was no special case review. The one-page fatality inquiry report, which didn’t document the circumstances of the death or whether the driver was injured or charged, recommended only that seat belts should be worn.

*Under Alberta law, children who died in provincial care cannot be identified.

**Special case reviews were internal investigations into a child’s death, overseen by a panel of government experts. They were intended to prevent similar deaths, enhance service delivery and hold government accountable, but they were stopped in 2009. In 2005, the province also changed the criteria for fatality inquiries and the frequency of inquiries into deaths of children in care dropped dramatically.

In early September 2013, the province released 2,556 pages of death records for all of the children who died while receiving in-care services between Jan. 1, 1999 and June 8, 2013. Many of them were heavily censored.